RIO DE JANEIRO, December 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- An advanced radiotherapy treatment system, fully equipped for treating cancer with advanced, image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery, has been ordered by Clínicas Oncológicas Integradas (GRUPO COI) for installation at the group's Botafogo site in Rio de Janeiro. The TrueBeam™ system, which was designed to treat tumors with great accuracy and speed, is the first to be ordered by a treatment center in South America, and is slated to be installed by the end of 2013 pending final approvals by the relevant regulatory agencies in Brazil.

"This system will enable us to treat cancer using high-quality radiotherapy and even radiosurgery procedures that are delivered more quickly and more precisely than is possible now," said Dr. Monica Schaum, Medical Vice President at GRUPO COI. "TrueBeam technology is especially suited for treating tumors that are close to or embedded in critical organs, such as cancers of the lung, liver, prostate, or spinal cord, where minimizing the exposure of surrounding healthy tissues is so important. With a TrueBeam system, we'll be able to use higher energy beams along with real-time image guidance for highly precise and targeted cancer treatments."

The TrueBeam system, which is made by Varian Medical Systems (NYSE:VAR), delivers powerful cancer treatments with pinpoint accuracy and precision. It integrates imaging and motion management technologies, making it possible to monitor and compensate for tumor motion during treatment.

Benefits of the System

"With this system, we'll be able to treat patients who wouldn't have other options," said Dr. Schaum. "For example, we are sometimes asked to use advanced modalities like IMRT and stereotactic radiosurgery to help patients who have relapsed after earlier courses of radiotherapy delivered using older technology. With the level of precision that TrueBeam affords, we can consider performing re-irradiations in some of these cases, because the technology will help us do a better job of minimizing the impact on surrounding healthy tissues that already received some dose and may be approaching their maximum tolerance."

TrueBeam can be used for radiotherapy treatments including image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery (IGRT and IGRS), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), RapidArc® radiotherapy, and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT).

RapidArc Radiotherapy at GRUPO COI Treatment Centers

Once the new TrueBeam is installed, the Botafogo treatment center will become the second GRUPO COI site to offer RapidArc radiotherapy, which is an efficient image-guided method for delivering precise treatments that conform to the three-dimensional shape of the tumor. RapidArc is delivered at the group's Barra Medical Center using a Trilogy® radiotherapy system from Varian.

"Our clinical team has treated over 200 cancer patients using RapidArc radiotherapy since we acquired the capability at the Barra site," said Helio Salmon, head of the Medical Physics Department at GRUPO COI. "We have also gained experience there treating lung and liver cancer with SBRT, which involves attacking tumors very precisely with carefully-shaped, high dose X-ray beams. We fully anticipate expanding our RapidArc and SBRT programs once the new TrueBeam system is operational. It will enable us to utilize these advanced approaches for treating even many types of cancer with speed and precision."

Doctors at GRUPO COI expect to be able to treat up to 50 patients per day using the new TrueBeam system once it is installed.

"The TrueBeam system is Varian's most advanced offering for image-guided cancer treatments," said Milton Munhoz, National Sales Manager for Varian in Brazil. "We are honored to work with GRUPO COI, which is very much on the leading edge of cancer care, having adopted modern technologies for the benefit of cancer patients in Brazil."

About Varian Medical Systems Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 6,100 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com or follow us on Twitter.

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